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New location-sharing feature added to the SafeMSU app
The world of college campus security is always evolving, especially at MSU following that deadly mass shooting in 2023. Now the university has updated its SafeMSU app with a program designed to get First Responders to an emergency on campus even faster.
EAST LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - Michigan State University has rolled out a new state-of-the-art update to its safety app to help police find anyone in an emergency much faster, and it plugs into technology already on the phones of most students.
Big picture view:
The world of college campus security is always evolving, especially at MSU following that deadly mass shooting in 2023. Now the university has updated its SafeMSU app with a program designed to get First Responders to an emergency on campus even faster.
It’s called ‘What Three Words.’ It’s a location-sharing tool designed to pinpoint a person with precision if someone needs help, whether it be a student, faculty member or anyone in the community.
The geocoding system, based in the UK, turns every three square meters of the world into a unique combination of three words.
What they're saying:
While it's also used for other things like e-commerce or to arrange deliveries or for people to find each other during large events like football games. MSU public safety officials say it’s another tool in the toolbox for them.
"You can use this anytime. If a student is on campus, they can open the SafeMSU app, link to What Three Words to see what three words they’re at which identifies them on a map. It puts them in basically a ten-foot by ten foot square anywhere on campus or anywhere in the world. They can then share those three words with a friend, family member, anybody who then puts those three words at their end and actually pinpoints where they’re at on a map," said MSU Police Deputy Chief Chris Rozman. "So it’s essentially like using a latitude and longitude but a lot simpler."
"I don’t really like seeing how it could be bad," said MSU freshman Char Van Arragon. "I don’t really know if there’s any downside and, yeah, it would be good if it was like an emergency to have a way to let people know right away where you are, exactly where you are."
Dig deeper:
MSU Police say the What Three Words tech has already been used by the Ingham County 911 Center for the last couple of years.